Update on Whiteboards for Virtual Teams

The design goal of many collaboration tools is to reproduce as closely as possible some aspect of the face-to-face meeting experience so that virtual project teams can be as productive as co-located teams. What I have found is that some tools developed for virtual teams actualy work better than the process they were built to replace. A great example of this is the whiteboard. Online whiteboards available today for free make many common whiteboarding tasks easier than the old fashioned flip-charts or dry-erase markers. You can use electronic whiteboards to brainstorm, problem solve, describe complex concepts, create flow-charts, or even vote on issues as a team. All it takes to be successful is a tool that has a minimum of features that are well-implemented and intuitive.

Just like desktop sharing tools (see my last blog), online whiteboards have come a long way in the past few years. There are now many free tools that have some excellent features and would be a great addition to any virtual teams’ tool box. I will mention a few here and comment on their pros/cons. Note: this is just a sample of current offersings and not intended to be an exhaustive list nor an endorsement of, nor recommendation for, any particular tool.

Let me start with a list of the Must and Want features of the perfect whiteboard tool:

Must

Multiple users (at least 10) can make changes and see those made by others nearly instantly during a collaborative session

Editing a text object is done in-place (no pop-ups or special right clicking)

It is easy to move text objects around using a simple click-and-drag mouse movement

The free-hand sketching tool creates a smooth line (no jagged line segments)

Line width for lines and boxes is adjustable

You can save a whiteboard and send it to others to open up in another session with all objects editable to continue working

You can edit all objects to resize, move, delete, and change colors and other attributes

You can add pages and move back and forth between them

It is very fast to get into a session and easy to invite others to join

Want

The canvas area can grow as the drawing grows

Different people can work on different pages at the same time

Works on all platforms (PC, Mac and Linux)

All data exchanged is secure (SSL)

Users can paste objects (text and images) from their local clipboard onto any page

Templates are available to get teams started with common tasks such as voting, fishbone diagramming, affinity diagramming (KJ), flow-charting, RACI charts, etc.

Pros

Cons

A product from GE (I’m not sure why they got into this business). Although an interesting tool to play with, it is way too combersome to be useful in a collaborative meeting.

Pros

Slick animation and implementation

Cons

this tool falls into the category of whiteboards that implement a traditional whiteboard too closely. You can’t edit things that are placed on the board. You can only undo and erase them. This completely defeats the most powerful aspect of an electronic whiteboard, editability, and makes brainstorming extremely difficult.

Cons

Twiddla’s Mac-like user interface makes for a pleasant visual experience. It implements an interesting paradigm for erasing that is sort of whiteboard like. You can erase parts of an object as if the object is a scribble on a real whiteboard. But, when you move the object you can see the original object unerased appear. Very disconcerting.

Pros

includes audio channel, chat window and an easy invitation process

nice facilities for adding and managing uploaded objects

includes a tool for creating mathematical formulas and embedded code fragments (why?)

Cons

This tool has a very different paradigm where you create ‘cards’ that contain text that are easily moved and connected using dynamic lines and arrows. Should be great for flow-charting or creating other types of associative diagrams.

Pros

very smooth free-hand drawing tool

Cons

lacks most of the drawing objects you would expect

text object always has a box around it, making brainstorming messy

As you can see, there are a number of really decent solutions out there for you to try with your teams. If you have had any experience with these or any others, please comment on this post as I’d love to hear what you have found that works for your team.